


Yesterday

by aanathemaa



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, Hurt, Other, Pre-Slash, Sleep Deprivation, Steve is a mommabear and gives good speeches when he's angry but can't write essays for shit, Violence, also tense gore, read the notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 17:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18211580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aanathemaa/pseuds/aanathemaa
Summary: At times, the house felt so much bigger than it was, and it was big enough already. Ironically, the bigger it felt, the more suffocating it was and every one of his gesture seemed to ring louder. Steve guessed that this was the reason why he used to enjoy sitting by the pool more often than not. Well, until Barb died, that was.





	Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be pre-Billy/Steve but I realized I can't write what comes next because I'm just not creative enough to make it good. Still, I thought it would be an awesome prompt and these are scenes I'd love to see in the show. 
> 
> Still lots of emotions in it. Max and Billy need a break. Steve needs time and sleep.

At times, the house felt so much bigger than it was, and it was big enough already. Ironically, the bigger it felt, the more suffocating it was and every one of his gesture seemed to ring louder. Steve guessed that this was the reason why he used to enjoy sitting by the pool more often than not. Well, until Barb died, that was.

Walking through the dimly lit hallway, he stopped by the mirror. The bruises Billy left on his face had almost faded, but the exhaustion had not. It was present in the dull look of his eyes and the bags underneath them. He kind of wished he could blame that on Billy too because it was easier to deal with teenage assholery than monsters from another dimension or the fact that Steve didn’t know what he was going to do with his life.

He poured himself a glass of wine and cringed as soon as his stomach protested for food. After turning on the radio to kill the nauseous silence, he grabbed an abandoned plate of mashed potatoes from the fridge and sighed.  _It’s either sleep depravation or food depravation, Steve, we can’t survive both_ , he’d joke.

He was almost done with the pie when McCartney’s voice filled the house, a live recording of Yesterday. Steve stared at his food for the longest time before he burst into laughter. Oh, how fitting, he thought to himself before the wide smile slowly died on his lips.

He threw his plate into the sink, grabbed his jacket and was out of the house in under a minute. Fuck all of that, he thought before slamming the door behind him.

As soon as he was in the car, the all too familiar feeling of wanting to drive off into the sunset, to never look back overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes.

_Run away, Stevie boy! Run away!_

But he couldn’t now, could he? He may have looked the part, but he was never rebellious enough for that. In a strange and embarrassing way, he felt a responsibility towards the kids. They needed him. Or at least Dustin did. 

And anyway, it wouldn’t be long before he’d have to leave for college, before his dad would force him into the family business or something. And was he going to college after all? Because between sleepless nights, driving the kids around and losing himself in his thoughts, his grades didn’t look promising.

When he realized that he couldn’t keep driving if he didn’t want to end up wrapped around a tree, he stopped by Margie’s Candies and decided a hot fudge sundae would be enough consolation for the time being. 

Getting to the counter, he was greeted by the sight of a bored barista reading a magazine and not even noticing his presence. He cleared his throat and expected some bad attitude but she took his order with no complaints. Technically, she didn’t bother to say anything at all.

Happy to have his order in his hands, Steve paid and turned around to find a place to sit in the mostly deserted store but then he almost dropped his consolation prize at the sight of familiar blue eyes glaring at him.

Max was sitting alone at a table, eating what seemed like a vanilla and strawberry ice-cream, looking at him like he had two heads and she was mad about it. If Steve was honest, Max sometimes freaked him out, and while they were not technically related, she definitely looked a lot like her step brother when she frowned.

Dumbfounded and worried about her being all alone at night in a candy shop so far away from home, Steve walked to her table and sat down in a daze while she scrutinized him.

“Max? What are you doing here?” he asked, softly, mostly because Max looked real mad and he didn’t want to get burned in her fire.

“What does it look like I’m doing Steve?” she rolled her eyes and okay, that wasn’t nice, but she was a kid, one of his kids, and she was out here alone for a reason and Steve was going to find out what happened.

“Well, I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking, stupid.” he threw the ball back in her court but it was obvious he was just trying to lighten up the conversation as he smiled at her playfully. Max sighed dramatically, like she was too tired to get angrier.

“How did you get here by yourself? Did something happen? Did Billy leave you here?” Steve asked and it was like walking on eggshells because sometimes it felt like Max was a bomb about to go off and he’d rather diffuse it than deal with the aftermath of an explosion. She was rough around the edges but a good kid nonetheless.

Max just scoffed, “I’m not alone.” is all she said before pointing her finger to her left. When Steve followed her directions, his eyes landed upon one Billy Hargrove sitting at the opposite end of the shop, staring at them. 

Steve’s eyes widened but he quickly looked back to Max. Billy did look mad but he also looked calm at the same time. Like he was a kid who realized he couldn’t get out of detention but still hated every second of it. Steve would laugh if it wasn’t for the fact that Billy still made his skin crawl.

“Is he mad at you? He didn’t want to sit with you? Why are you two here?”

Honestly, Steve had many questions and didn’t know what to ask first. Max groaned. 

“No, _stupid_ , I didn’t want to sit with him.”

And Steve stared at her for the longest time before he let out a laugh like that was some good joke or something. Max looked at him funny but there was a hint of a smile on her face and he already felt better. 

He does remember that Max stopped talking to Billy after the incident. He still drove her around because he had to but they’d never greet each other or say goodbye when he’d drop her at the arcade.

They ate quietly for a while, mostly because Steve didn’t miss how Max was avoiding his questions so he didn’t want to push her too much. After some time, with her eyes on her ice-cream like it was such an interesting thing, she finally spoke. 

“Billy brings me here when Neil gets mad.” she pauses, shifting in her chair like she doesn’t want to talk about it too much. This was brand new information for Steve because yeah, he knew her dad was kind of an asshole, but he didn’t guess that would warrant late night rides to a candy shop on the outskirts of Hawkins. 

“He gets so angry sometimes. Mostly at Billy. But Billy doesn’t want to leave me alone with him when he’s like that.”

She’s whispering now and Steve can barely hear her. He knows immediately that Billy doesn’t want her talking about it.

A sense of dread suddenly overtakes him and he can’t help the panic in his voice when he asks her. “Does he hit you?”

She’s quiet, like she doesn’t want to answer and Steve feels like he’s on a rollercoaster suspended upside down for a full minute. 

“No,” she starts and gives Steve a glance before she looks away. Steve would feel glad if it wasn’t for the fact that he felt a “but” coming.

“He hits Billy. A lot. And often.” she explains and seems to have lost all interest in her dessert. “Sometimes for no reason.”

Steve seems frozen for quite a while, trying to put two and two together, and now he understands why Billy looked like he’d been hit by a car several times the day after they fought at the Byers house. He remembers the gang asking Max about it a lot but she refused to tell them what had happened so they started theorizing about it before Max got angry enough to yell at them and shut them up.

The thing is, he’d seen Billy wearing bruises several times before, but he had always assumed that it was because the guy loved picking fights with just about anybody. Maybe some of them were from his macho standoffs with whoever happened to cross his path, but Steve had a feeling that most of the time they were just Neil’s doing. 

“Max,” he says, all serious, “what really happened that night?” And Steve didn’t have to explain what he’s referring to 

“Will you keep this to yourself? He doesn’t want me talking about our business.”

“Yes, don’t worry.” Steve assures her.

“It was kinda my fault.” Max sighs deeply and Steve frowns, “I sneaked out and didn’t tell him. Billy was supposed to watch me so Neil got real mad at him. He knew that if he didn’t bring me back, there’d be trouble.” she paused, “Look, I’ve seen Billy angry before. He’s always angry actually. But that night,” she trails off.

“Scared both of us.” Steve says and watches her meet his gaze and nod.

“I know he kind of deserves it for what he did and I wasn’t home when it happened, but Steve, it was real bad when Neil got to him,” she almost winced, remembering what he looked like, “it was real bad after that night at Will’s.”

Steve furrowed his brows and remembered how he felt after Billy walked all over him. This was so fucked up he didn’t know where to start. 

“Listen, Max, your brother is an asshole and there’s no debating that but I want you to know that no one deserves to be treated like that by their parents. Or anyone really. That’s not how you punish someone. You have to be the bigger person. You have to teach them a lesson rather than just beat them.”

And Steve meant every word. Sure, he’d love to punch Billy in the face sometimes, especially after what he did to him, and Steve wasn’t sure he’d be able to forget what happened so easily, but he knew that violence wasn’t right. Besides, there were things in this world that hurt you more than violence.

Max was looking at him right now like he was Yoda or something but he just wanted her to understand that this wasn’t normal and that rage can be channeled and managed in different ways. Violence was only good when it was your last option, like when he fought Billy back because he thought Billy might end up killing someone. That someone could have been Steve in the end, if it wasn’t for Max herself. 

“Sometimes I’m scared that Billy will do something bad or stupid. Or both.” Max confesses and it breaks Steve a little to see her speak about things that no thirteen year old should ever speak about. Truth was, the world wasn’t a nice place for many people.

“Don’t worry about that.” Steve says and waves his hand for good measure. “Eat your ice-cream before it melts completely.” he warned and ruffled her hair a little, which earned him a slap on the wrist.

* * *

Walking to his car, relieved that another school day was finally over, he noticed Max and Billy arguing. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but this didn’t surprise him. They argued often. Not so much lately as they weren’t on speaking terms but before the incident, this was a common occurrence. 

What did shock Steve was that Billy suddenly grabbed Max’s arm, like he was real mad about something, and while Max flinched, she stood her ground and kept glaring at him. He had never seen Billy do something of that sort so his stomach dropped immediately and instinct told him he had to keep Max safe. 

Without even thinking about it, he started walking fast towards Billy’s Camaro. He dropped his backpack without hesitation and grabbed Billy by the throat.

“Let her go.” he said firmly, low and angry. 

To say Billy was shocked was an understatement. He stared at Steve for the longest time before he let go of Max and pushed Steve’s hand away like it burned and like it was real easy. 

“Max, go to my car, please.” Steve said but didn’t take his eyes off Billy, who had no shame to glare right back. Still, he said nothing as Max did as Steve asked. Suddenly Steve realized what he did and the fact that he had the balls to do that startled him.

“Can we talk for a moment without it ending in a physical fight?” Steve asked as calmly as he could despite the circumstances, but Billy still wouldn’t talk. When Steve decided he waited for too long, he asked again.

“So?”

“Speak.” Billy finally snapped and gave Steve a smirk full of venom. 

“Max told me the other ni-”

“Yes, I know, the shitbird did what the shitbird’s gonna do. Anything else?”

Steve sighed and closed his eyes and counted to ten. 

“I know your home life is fucked up-”

“You don't know shit, Harrington.”

Steve ignored him, mostly because Billy was trying to get him to drop the subject.

“I know your home life is fucked up and that things are difficult for you too but please, _please_ don’t take it out on Max. At least, don’t touch her like that. She’s a kid. Sometimes, kids don’t know better.” 

“She does know better.” Billy interrupts again but this time, his voice is calmer, he sounds tired, almost.

“It seemed to me like she wanted to talk to someone. That’s all. And I’m a better option than the rest of her friends.” Steve countered and Billy shut up, but still looked defensive.

“When I talked to her the other night, she told me things no thirteen year old girl should ever know about or experience. She even blamed herself for what happened at the Byers and we both know that there’s no excuse for what you did, especially to Lucas.” he said firmly, leaving no room for that to be debated.

Billy didn’t protest so Steve was thankful for the small things in life. Maybe he realized just how much he fucked up, maybe he really needed someone to help him with his temper before something worse would happen. 

"And she was scared,” he continued, “scared that you’d do something bad or stupid. Or both. She actually cares about you.” Steve tried to convince Billy but he wasn’t sure it was working by the looks of it. At least Billy listened to him and didn’t punch him or anything. 

“And I really care about her. I don’t want to threaten you Billy but let’s make this clear: I didn’t press charges against you when you beat me unconscious but if I see you get physical with her again, I’m going to the police.” Billy scoffed and looked away, like he was some brat trying to defy an adult, but he actually looked ashamed for a second and then covered it up quickly with a bitter look. Steve noticed though. 

“I know that you care about her because otherwise you wouldn’t take her to that place whenever there was trouble at home so find it in your heart to not put her through the shitty things your dad put you through.”

With that, Steve picked up his bag and left, hoping Billy understood that this was more than just a standoff between them.


End file.
